Charles Joseph Zinn Jr., M.D.

Charles Zinn, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother and physician, passed away peacefully at home in Colorado Springs on September 30th at the age of 89. Charlie was born in Philadelphia on August 24, 1937 to the late Charles and Mildred Cooper Zinn, the second child of their three sons and six daughters. When he was ten his family moved to Florida, first to Gainesville and eventually settling in Ft. Lauderdale where he spent his high school years.

Coming from a strong Irish Catholic upbringing, Charlie began his college years as a pre-Med student at Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. During his freshman year he began to feel a calling to the Catholic priesthood. He transferred to the seminary at St. John’s College in Little Rock, Arkansas, earning a BA in Philosophy. He was selected for further seminary at the North American College in Rome, Italy. There he earned an STB and STL in Theology from the Gregorian University and was ordained a priest for the Catholic Archdiocese of Miami. Upon return to Miami, he served as Secretary to the Archbishop and as Vice-Chancellor of the Archdiocese. He also served as pastor at St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish in Key West and later, pastor at St. Hugh Parish in Coconut Grove. After a time, he chose to leave the priesthood, desiring a space in his life for marriage and children. He requested and was granted a Papal Laicization, a dispensation from Rome from his priestly vows. He remained, ever after, faithful to his God and loyal to his Church.

Much of Charlie’s ministry involved counseling. Charlie felt that he and his parishioners would benefit from his having further training, so he had begun taking classes in social work. When he decided to leave the priesthood, he moved to Chicago where he completed a Masters degree in Social Work at the University of Chicago, while also applying to medical school. He was accepted to Loyola’s Stritch School of Medicine where he graduated with his MD in 1977. He then completed a Residency in Internal Medicine at Northwestern’s Evanston Hospital and also a Fellowship in Medical Oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

It was during medical school that Charlie met Helen, the sister of one of his classmates. She too was from an Irish Catholic family of three sisters and six brothers. They had so much in common and it was so easy to fall in love. They married on Sept 26, 1976 and were blessed with the arrival of their son Charles in ‘79 and their second son Daniel sixteen months later. They celebrated fifty wonderful years of marriage this September 26th.

Charlie was one of four founding physicians who started the medical practice known today in Colorado Springs as the Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers. Retiring at age 75 after 35 years of medical practice, he continued as a part-time volunteer physician for the Peak Vista Community Health Center for ten more years. He served on several boards, among them the Cheyenne Village and the Executive Committee of the Pikes Peak Council of Boy Scouts.

Charlie had an immense capacity for empathy. He loved helping people and making a difference in their lives. He loved being a doctor, getting to know his patients and their families, and helping them through troubling diagnoses. He also loved skiing, backpacking with his sons and exploring the world with Helen. He loved music and art, a good game of Catan, chocolate chip cookies and John Grisham novels. He loved, most especially, his grandchildren, Ceci and Liam, who brought him great joy. He was a sweet, kind, smart, talented man who made friends wherever he went. An Oncologist much esteemed by his peers, and beloved by family and friends, he will be sorely missed.

Charlie is survived by his wife Helen and sons Charlie (Rita) and Dan (Betsy), brothers Joe (Kathy), David (Toni), and sisters Sr. Joan Zinn, OP, Margaret Frentz (Stuart), Dorothy Zinn (David Greer) and Mary Batina (Craig). He is preceded in death by his parents, Charlie and Millie, his sisters Diane Jurgensen (Paul) and Frances Sharrow (Jack).

A funeral Mass will be held at St. Paul Church, 9 El Pomar Road, Colorado Springs 80906 at 10:30am, Saturday, November 7th. A Celebration of Charlie’s beautiful life will follow at Cheyenne Mountain Country Club, 9 Lake Avenue. Inurnment at the Mount St. Francis Columbarium will be private. In lieu of flowers, please consider contributions in his name to Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, 228 N. Cascade Avenue, Colorado Springs 80903, or the Parkinsons or Cancer organization of your choice.